Coping with "morning" sickness

[FullOfThought]

I am really struggling this week with morning sickness… there are so many tips online but most of them sound like they would not help. I have it all day and all night, I’m on bed rest so I am already getting lots of rest…

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

 

[mommamaree]

No advice, just sympathy. I am struggling with the same thing. Morning sickness is a misnomer. Try all day sickness!

The thing that works the best for me is eating smaller, more frequent meals and eating pickles or other sour foods or sour candies. However, I don’t offer this as advice because I have gained too much weight with my previous pregnancies! And sleep is a blissful escape for me, but even on bedrest you can’t sleep all day!

Sorry to hear about your nausea. The one consolation I cling to is that there is a strong correlation between lots of nausea and having a strong baby.

 

[ShanaA1984]

If it is severe enough you could talk to your Dr. about prescribing some anti-nausea medication like Phenergan. During my pregnancy I was prescribed it because I could not move 2 feet without throwing up.

 

[EasterJoy]

One thing to realize is that your brain’s olfactory connections are working on overdrive. The fewer strong smells (and especially the less you smell food before it is time to eat it), the better. Small frequent meals and low exposure to anything that could be described as “fragrant.”

Eat what sounds good and distract yourself as necessary to endure it. There may be nothing to make it go away entirely, but you will get some better times sprinkled in with the not-so-great, and you’ll probably get a handle on what works for you and what you need to avoid as you get experience with your “current normal”. That will help, be sure of that! You’ll through this!

 

[FullOfThought]

No advice, just sympathy. I am struggling with the same thing. Morning sickness is a misnomer. Try all day sickness!

The thing that works the best for me is eating smaller, more frequent meals and eating pickles or other sour foods or sour candies. However, I don’t offer this as advice because I have gained too much weight with my previous pregnancies! And sleep is a blissful escape for me, but even on bedrest you can’t sleep all day!

Sorry to hear about your nausea. The one consolation I cling to is that there is a strong correlation between lots of nausea and having a strong baby.

I’m sorry your facing this too… I have never experienced anything like this before! I keep closing my eyes and offering my pain to Christ as thanks for what He suffered for us… it helps sometimes at least.

Sour foods? I never would have thought of that! Thank you. I am 5’2" and before pregnancy I weighed 130lbs, I have lost 10lbs in the last 3weeks… midwife isn’t too worried but eating is such a drag… I will try sour candies thank you!

If it is severe enough you could talk to your Dr. about prescribing some anti-nausea medication like Phenergan. During my pregnancy I was prescribed it because I could not move 2 feet without throwing up.

Wow, that sounds awful. Thankfully I rarely throw up, it’s the stretching pains and nausea… so much nausea!

One thing to realize is that your brain’s olfactory connections are working on overdrive. The fewer strong smells (and especially the less you smell food before it is time to eat it), the better. Small frequent meals and low exposure to anything that could be described as “fragrant.”

Eat what sounds good and distract yourself as necessary to endure it. There may be nothing to make it go away entirely, but you will get some better times sprinkled in with the not-so-great, and you’ll probably get a handle on what works for you and what you need to avoid as you get experience with your “current normal”. That will help, be sure of that! You’ll through this!

I hope you’re right! I just keep thinking that maybe by 13weeks it will ease up!! Thanks for your encouragement!

 

[EasterJoy]

I hope you’re right! I just keep thinking that maybe by 13weeks it will ease up!! Thanks for your encouragement!

I wouldn’t put a date on it, but the chances are very high that it will ease up. I’m sure you’ll find coping strategies even before that, and coping strategies are half the battle.

I will spare you my own tales, lest I mention details vivid enough to elicit an uneasy reaction in you. I have nothing terrible to relate, mind you, but the stories can hardly be told without running that unnecessary risk.

 

[EasterJoy]

Sour foods? I never would have thought of that! Thank you. I am 5’2" and before pregnancy I weighed 130lbs, I have lost 10lbs in the last 3weeks… midwife isn’t too worried but eating is such a drag… I will try sour candies thank you…

Yes. Besides “comfort flavors” like vanilla, I’ve heard sweet, sour, sweet ‘n’ sour, and a whole range of weird combinations that you may well add to yourself. I’d name a few, but the ones that don’t sound wonderful can sound pretty awful. Besides, your own thing will probably come to you, when the time comes. But yes, there may be some very strong flavors that are just the thing for you. It is very individual.

 

[guiltycatholic]

A nasty-tasting “candy” called ginger chews by a company called the Ginger People is what worked for me. Also, drink lots of water. I mean LOTS of water - waaaay more than you think you need. Eat frequently but eat light. Stay busy, keep your mind off of it. Most important is to remember that it will pass. Some women feel sick throughout their entire pregnancy… but even then, it doesn’t last forever. Hang in there and offer it up for your little one in love!

 

[Trishie]

I used always to have plain, unsweetened dry crackers by the bed and would have some even before I tried to get up…maybe a little water also.
That helped me. If I neglected to have some crackers, I suffered the consequences.
No rich or ‘fatty’ food.
I only had severe morning sickness with my first child…and some of that was stress.
By my third child I only had two days of morning-sickness. I was more relaxed.

I do recall I had some success in ‘sucking’ barley-sugar ‘candy’ but whether of not that is available…?

Prayers and good wishes for you and your baby

 

[105lynne]

Congratulations on your little blessing! And I’m so sorry you’re suffering. I know it can be miserable. The thing that helped me most was to drink hot tea and munch on things pretty much all day long. Pretzels, carrots, apple slices, peanut butter crackers, crunchy things like that. Anything that didn’t smell strong. I also ate peppermint candies, which really settled my stomach. I know eating is probably that last thing you want to do, but I know it will help. If its really bad, to the point where you can’t hold anything down, call the doctor. I know there’s things they can do for severe morning/all day sickness. Good luck, sweetie! {{{HUGS}}}

 

[jeannetherese]

I made home-made *liquados *during my pregnancy. Breakfast went down more easily in liquid form.
I started with home canned peaches, added an egg (first checking to make sure there were no cracks in the shell as my baby and I did not want salmonella) and dumped in a cup or two of milk and whipped them together in my blender. Protein, dairy and fruit all together and I could sip at my own pace.

May God bless you and your little one!

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I wouldn’t put a date on it, but the chances are very high that it will ease up.

This…I put a date on my first and I was very upset to see the date come and go and the morning sickness stay.

Also, try different things, but things will be different for each woman, heck, for each pregnancy things can be different. It took me several years to be able to eat saltines after I tried to use it for morning sickness with my first (didn’t help me).

The one thing that did help me was to eat small things all day. I tried to eat as healthy as I could, but yeah, sometimes it just works out to eat whatever you can swallow.

With my first, before I knew about not letting my stomach get empty, some days I would lay still without eating all day. Yeah, that didn’t work. I usually lose about 10 lbs early in pregnancy, and then more than make up for it. I can tell you a couple of things that worked for me in different pregnancies. I couldn’t drink water, and had an aversion to any sweets, so room temp. seltzer water was perfect for me. Another time gatorade helped. Another time I could drink coke. Seltzer/tonic water was the most common solution in my pregnancies.
Foodwise… I remember eating carrots with one, and some cheese. Nuts (although a little hard to digest)… I aimed for protein high, low sugar food. With my first, I had heard about sour lemon drops, I sucked on them constantly for over an hour (prolly several), when I stopped I had a horrible sugar crash, nearly fainted. I really can’t remember what worked for me, but I know it varied by pregnancy and even by day (or hour). I just had to keep experimenting. I do seem to block out that part of pregnancy when not pregnant, but it becomes all too familiar when preggo.

 

[MariaCA]

Try ginger in different forms and see which one agrees with you most. I find zero cal ginger ale really effective and a few dry biscuits when I am feeling queasy.

 

[papaececi]

Morning sickness is one of the hardest things about pregnancy in my opinion. I’d rather give birth every day for 9 months than have morning sickness!

You might want to ask your doctor about taking 1/2 a unisom + B6. It has been rigorously tested and studied, and it is completely safe. As your doctor which unisom to take (there are two different kinds) and how much b6. Just 1/2 a unisom at night is enough for me. It will make you sleepy if you take it during the day, but if you are in bed all day, that shouldn’t matter!

 

[Lacour]

Just got past the worst of this in my 3rd pregnancy. What I can offer is:

• eat what sounds good. Pre-pregnancy I was an omnivore who tried very hard to eat only non-processed food. The last 14 weeks I’ve been eating really cheap frozen pizza & Raman noodle soup. I had about 5 weeks where all I could eat was plain spaghetti with just a touch of Parmesan. Eat what works - you can make up for it later.
• chewing gum and peppermints really helped this time, but didn’t the first 2 times. I suggest trying everything and be willing to try it again in a couple of weeks.

Hope you feel better soon!